Maryland state delegate Terri Hill, MD, is being reprimanded and fined $15,000 by the state physicians board after she attended legislative meetings via Zoom while performing surgery, according to an Oct. 29 Baltimore Sun report.
During a March 12 back and abdominal operation at a surgery center, Dr. Hill told a nurse to log into a legislative meeting and prop the phone up on medical equipment.
Dr. Hill told the patient 10 minutes before the surgery that she'd be attending the video meeting, to which the patient agreed, though the Maryland Board of Physicians found no consent form in the patient's file, the Sun reported.
The nurse told the board she was uncomfortable but that she felt she "could not tell the physician what to do," according to the report.
During a Feb. 19 abdominal surgery performed at an unidentified hospital, Dr. Hill stepped away from the patient to present a bill she was sponsoring, according to the report. The patient later said that Dr. Hill's diverted attention was "discomforting" and that she did not recall being asked permission.
The state physicians board ultimately found that Dr. Hill violated state law, saying she is guilty of unprofessional conduct in the practice of medicine, according to the report. She remains a licensed physician in Maryland and operates out of a private cosmetic surgery practice in Ellicott City.